September 11, 2005

The Saints have endured one of the most difficult pre-season schedules in school history, as four of their first six losses came from teams in the CSTV/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll or among “others receiving points.”

The week-end of Sept. 2-3, the Saints opened their season at the Coyote Classic Women’s Volleyball Tournament in Coussoulis Arena. In the tournament, hosted by Cal-State University San Bernardino,  the Saints came home winless.

The Saints, playing their first match of the season, were swept by  No. 10 ranked UC San Diego 30-19, 30-21, 30-10.  Keana Morrisey was the top player for the Saints with seven kills and nine digs. In the evening game on Friday, the seven-member Saints, were swept by Sonoma State University 30-19, 30-25, 30-22.  Cal State San Bernardino, ranked No. 2 in the nation, had too many guns for SMU, sweeping the Saints by scores of 30-10, 30-8, 30-15.  Andrea Tarbet led the Saints with five kills and six digs and a solo block.  In the evening match on Saturday, the Saints fell victim to Cal-State Bakersfield, who were among the “others receiving points” in the top 25 poll,  30-17, 30-14, 30-18.

In their home opener on Sept. 5, the Saints fell victim to the University of Hawaii-Hilo 30-21, 30-15, 30-19 in a NCAA Div. II Pacific Region volleyball match.  Keana Morrisey led the Saints with nine kills, while Andrea Tarbet had 10 digs.

Chaminade, ranked #18 nationally, needed four games to dispose of Saint Martin's on Sept. 6, defeating the Saints, 30-18, 27-30, 30-20, 30-13. The Saints fell to 0-6 with the loss, but did win their first game of the season in the second of the four contests versus the Silverswords.  Keana Morrisey paced SMU with 14 kills in the match. Carrie Ooms and Andrea Tarbet each had three blocks. Ooms was also credited with four service aces in the four game match.

SMU had their conference opener Sept. 8 versus Western Oregon University, losing 32-30, 30-22, 30-25. WOU rallied from a 30-29 deficit during a tight first game, scoring the final three points of the game and capping the win. They then raced out to a 10-4 lead in the second game and led by as many as nine points, repeating that scenario in the third game where they never trailed. Carrie Ooms had 12 kills and Keana Morrisey added 10 for the Saints. Kirstin Bautista contributed 16 digs.